The original Acid Archives book describes this as an “acoustic loner folk LP,” whose creator was “supposedly a draft dodger and released this LP in Canada.” The updated, second edition of the book expounds a bit more.
“This seldom discussed downer folk LP has everything that genre fans love, and may be strong enough to appeal to others as well. Unlike much of the competition, Westover has a good, soaring voice that hits the notes and is charged with feeling. The songs rely o drone guitar picking supporting a half-sung, live-improv delivery common to the downer brigade, not much of a ‘pop’ songwriter sensibility, but geared instead towards emotion and presence. It’s acoustic guitar, vocal and occasional harmonica, yet manages to keep your attention for most of the (overly generous) 54 minutes. At its most song-oriented I’m reminded of Bob Desper, while the more typical dark folk explorations sound a bit like the Dutch TonVlasman album. While not on the same level as Perry Leopold, Westover needn’t be embarrassed by the occasional comparisons to such a classic. The lyrical themes are expectedly tormented and personal; at times the intensity may produce a slightly psychedelic feel, but first and last this is humorless post-acid late-night 1970s folk and singer-songwriter.” [PL]
And, of course, for you real collector nerds out there, there’s some confusion over the cover/title of this record. There are at least two, maybe even three variations of the cover for this album. One shows images of clouds and the artist and title credit (as simply Memorial); a variant adds a small image of an old airplane at the centre of the cover (presumably keeping the title as simply Memorial); and a third variant has no airplane but adds the words To Fear in small print below the Memorial title. Supposedly Westover decided to change the title from Memorial to Memorial To Fear after the covers were printed. I have no idea what the addition of the airplane may or may not mean.
Dana Westover
Memorial To Fear
(Wolf Music, 1972)
MediaFire DL Link
01. Beginning
02. Dedication
03. Little Flame
04. Crooked Frame Wind
05. The Effigy
06. From A Tower Window
07. Meet Me There
08. Whisper
09. Song To Sally
10. Teacher
11. Everyday
